“It’s fair to say it’s slightly awkward,” Bourne told The Daily Beast. “It’s a tough situation for a lot of Republicans, who are having to choose between two good people and are having to push through this primary process to get to November..”

Bourne’s dilemma is shared by like-minded Republicans statewide who have grown up with political fealty to Sessions and hate how he’s been treated but love Trump. While the president has publicly berated Sessions for years, he’s stepped up his attacks since Sessions kicked off his comeback, fuming that he “had no courage,” accused him of “ruining many lives,” and called him a “slime.”…

“I’m pissed off about it,” Seibenhener, the chairman of the Geneva County GOP, told The Daily Beast.

Seibenhener remains troubled that the president has taken a personal issue with the former attorney general doing what he considered “ethical and correct thing to do,” on his recusal from the Russia investigation, a point that was echoed by a number of local Republican officials.